JERSEY CITY — Shepard Fairey and his crew are nearly finished working on what will be the famed street artist’s widest horizontal mural to date. Natural Springs, part of a long-term collaboration between Mana Contemporary and Fairey, is the latest addition to the Mana Urban Arts project. Measuring 147 feet wide and 47 feet tall, it is visible to the millions of drivers traveling between Jersey City and Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel.
Shortly, Fairey will create a wheat-paste print on dual sides of a 60-foot-wide billboard atop one of Mana Contemporary’s buildings overlooking the Pulaski Skyway.These monumental public works coincide with Fairey’s On Our Hands, opening at Jacob Lewis Gallery in Chelsea on September 17. The exhibition of mixed-media paintings is the artist’s first solo show in New York since 2010.
Fairey’s mural is located at the Mana Ice House at 581 Monmouth Street, andhis billboard will appear atop one of Mana Contemporary’s buildings located at 930 Newark Ave.
After more than two decades as a professional artist, Fairey’s work is recognized internationally, as his particular aesthetic sensibilities—Russian Constructivism, Chinese Communist propaganda, and Americana—exemplify his philosophies and critiques of the ever-changing political landscape. Best known for his iconic Barack Obama Hope poster and his ubiquitous OBEY “Andrew the Giant has a Posse” street art campaign, his works retain a rebellious spirit of nonconformity.
Fairey’s mural is located at the Mana Ice House at 581 Monmouth Street, andhis billboard will appear atop one of Mana Contemporary’s buildings located at 930 Newark Avenue later this week.